Solano County, California
Government Center in Downtown Fairfield]] Solano County is a county located in Bay-Delta region of the U.S. state of California, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento and is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. As of 2000 its population was 394,542. The county seat is Fairfield. History Solano County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Prior to statehood, it had been referred to as Benicia County. At the request of General Mariano Vallejo, the county derives its name directly from an Indian Chief, Chief Solano of the Suisunes, a Native American tribe of the region and Vallejo's close ally. Chief Solano at one time led the tribes between the Petaluma River and the Sacramento River. The chief was also called Sem-Yeto, which signifies "brave or fierce hand." The Chief was given the Spanish name Francisco Solano during baptism at the Catholic Mission, and is named after the Spanish Franciscan missionary, Father Francisco Solano. "Solano" is a common surname in the north of Spain, specially in Navarra, Zaragoza and La Rioja. Travis Air Force Base is located just east of Fairfield. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,348 km² (907 sq mi). 2,148 km² (829 sq mi) of it is land and 201 km² (77 sq mi) of it (8.55%) is water. A portion of the South Campus at the University of California is in Solano County. Cities and towns *Benicia *Dixon *Fairfield *Rio Vista *Suisun City *Vacaville *Vallejo Unincorporated communities *Birds Landing *Collinsville *Cordelia - located within the city limits of Fairfield. *Elmira *Green Valley *Bucktown - within or just outside of NW Vacaville. Adjacent counties *Contra Costa County - south *Sonoma County - west *Napa County - west *Yolo County - north *Sacramento County - east Environment Endangered species Solano county has a number of rare and endangered species including the wildflower Lasthenia conjugens, commonly known as Contra Costa goldfields and the annual plant Legenere limosa or False Venus' looking glass. Solano County has several inactive cinnabar mines including the Hastings Mine and St. John's Mine,C.Michael Hogan, Marc Papineau et al., of the columbus Parkway Widening between Ascot Parkway and the Northgate Development, Vallejo, Earth Metrics Inc. Report 7853, California State Clearinghouse, Sept, 1989 both of which are subject to ongoing environmental monitoring; these mines were worked in the first half of the twentieth century. Transportation infrastructure Major highways * Interstate 80 * Interstate 505 * Interstate 680 * Interstate 780 * California State Route 12 * California State Route 37 * California State Route 84 * California State Route 113 Public transportation Solano County is served by several transit agencies: *Vallejo Transit, which also operates the Baylink Ferry to San Francisco *Fairfield Suisun Transit *Benicia Breeze *Vacaville City Coach *Rio Vista Delta Breeze Each agency interconnects with each other, enabling transit trips throughout the county. Service also connects with BART stations in Contra Costa County. Transit links are provided to Napa, Yolo and Sacramento counties as well. Greyhound and Amtrak provide long-distance intercity service. Airports General aviation airports in Solano County include: the Nut Tree Airport, Rio Vista Municipal Airport and Vacaville Airport Demographics As of the census² of 2000, there were 394,542 people, 130,403 households, and 97,411 families residing in the county. The population density was 184/km² (476/sq mi). There were 134,513 housing units at an average density of 63/km² (162/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 56.37% White, 14.91% Black or African American, 0.79% Native American, 12.75% Asian, 0.78% Pacific Islander, 8.01% from other races, and 6.39% from two or more races. 17.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 75.7% spoke English, 12.1% Spanish and 6.6% Tagalog as their first language. There were 130,403 households out of which 39.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 13.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.30% were non-families. 19.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.33. In the county the population was spread out with 28.30% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 31.30% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 9.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 101.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $54,099, and the median income for a family was $60,597. Males had a median income of $41,787 versus $31,916 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,731. About 6.10% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.30% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over. Politics Solano is a strongly Democratic county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Ronald Reagan in 1984. Solano is part of California's 3rd, 7th, and 10th congressional districts, which are held by Republican Dan Lungren and Democrats George Miller and Ellen Tauscher, respectively. In the State Assembly Solano is in the 7th and 8th Assembly districts, which are held by Democrats Noreen Evans and Lois Wolk, respectively. In the California State Senate, Solano is part of the 2nd and 5th Senate districts, which are held by Democrats Pat Wiggins and Michael Machado, respectively. Trivia In 1985 Humphrey the humpback whale strayed off his migration route and ended up in Rio Vista at which point rescuers from The Marine Mammal Center and other volunteers were able to turn him around in the narrow river channel. See also *List of school districts in Solano County References External links *Solano County official website Category:San Francisco Bay Area Category:Solano County, California Category:Counties of California